1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a conveyor means for used toner in a cleaning mechanism of an electrographic printer or copier device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cleaning mechanism is allocated to the printer or copier device for the removal of toner residues and other particles from the surface of an intermediate carrier, particularly a photoconductor drum. Particles adhering to the intermediate carrier are removed using a stripper element lying against the intermediate carrier.
Such a cleaning mechanism is disclosed by European Patent Document EP-04 640 032 B1. The known cleaning mechanism contains a stripper element extending over the width of the intermediate carrier. This stripper elements scrapes off toner residues and contaminants adhering to the surface of the intermediate carrier. These residues drop into a trough from which they are conveyed out. The trough partially surrounds a conveyor worm that is coupled to a drivable shaft via a claw coupling. The conveyor worm is preferably fabricated of resilient material such as, for example, a spring wire. The used toner is conveyed out of the cleaning station by rotation of the conveyor worm.
It has now been shown that the pourability and flowability of the used toner decreases dependent on the temperature, particularly given employment of developer material that is suitable for high print image resolutions. In the extreme case, this leads to the used toner collecting in the trough of the cleaning station and no longer proceeding into the area of influence of the conveyor worm, which leads to a tunnel formation of toner. In this case, the elimination of the used toner is no longer assured.